🔗 Share this article

Hailing from Melbourne
Recommended if you like classic jangle-pop compilations, AU/NZ jangle-pop, Mess Esque
Latest release The compilation 'Going Back to Sleep' is currently released

The artist known as DJ Moopie, real name Matthew Xue, from Melbourne, is renowned for engrossing, wide-ranging sets that often traverse from gelid ambient music to churning drum'n'bass and beyond. He is also the founder of A Colourful Storm – an exceptional independent record label that consistently exceeds expectations when it comes to issuing endearingly atmospheric avant-pop, featuring a diverse roster including London-based percussionist Valentina Magaletti, the dub-infused sounds of Hobart pair Troth, and the prolific underground figure Simon Fisher Turner.

The label's 2017 release was I Won’t Have to Think About You, a collection of delightful, C86-inspired indie pop. More recently, it has issued Going Back to Sleep, a quasi-sequel to that record which simultaneously serves as a succinct overview to several excellent bands in the gentle pop sphere making music now. Daily Toll, a band from Sydney, whose 2025 debut A Profound Non-Event is a hidden jewel from this year, contribute Time, a seven-minute melodica-and-guitar reverie. Chateau, featuring members Al Montfort and Alex Macfarlane, explore beat-driven, psychedelic-infused easy listening on How Long on the Platform, and Who Cares?, blend influences from the styles of Hope Sandoval and Eartheater on Wax and Wane.

In other tracks, Going Back to Sleep features tracks from San Francisco indie stalwarts the Reds, Pinks and Purples; minimalist Sydney group the Lewers; and sun-dappled folk-pop from Dutch duo the Hobknobs. It’s an unassuming compilation that’s destined to be well-loved and frequently referenced for aficionados of art that is gentle and profoundly emotional.

The Top New Releases This Week

Flea – A Plea
A rare solo track from the RHCP bass player, and a magnificently realised one: driving yet inquisitive soul-infused jazz with Flea calling for peace and love. “I’m not being corny – this shit is real!”

Daniel Blumberg and Amanda Seyfried – Clothed By the Sun
After securing this year's Oscar for Best Original Score, one could envision Blumberg earning the 2026 Oscar for Best Original Song for this stunning Seyfried duet included in his soundtrack to The Testament of Ann Lee.

Jana Horn – All in Bet
The Texan songwriter paints in every shade of a sigh on this deeply gloomy comeback, as delicate traces of piano and flute shade her exhausted letdown.

Umor Rex – Lo Animal
You could easily imagine this Madrid-based cellist’s dark, gothic composition touched by industrial music on the soundtrack to Dune, with its thundering drums, metallic shrieks, haunting choral passages and apocalyptic grandeur.

Zora Jones x DJ Polo – Hoes Link Up
Austrian visionary Zora Jones collaborates with UK bass producer DJ Polo from Bristol for some slamming ghettotech: the drums could knock you flat yet the melody approaches dream-pop.

Jawnino and Surf Gang – Hit Again
Featured on the fresh mixtape Amnesia, British MC Jawnino rolls over diverse, ethereal rap production courtesy of Surf Gang, and this is one of its peaks, Jawnino focused and in the zone while he examines the landscape of drug dealing.

Annabelle Chairlegs – Heavy Sleeper
Produced by Ty Segall, this garagey number chugs along entirely at its own pace, shifting from a runaway vehicle to the musician from Austin's hazy daydream about how “the moon gives me back my spirit”.